In the days and weeks that followed the Kennedy assassination, life settled back into its normal routines, Christmas and New Year's came and went and seemed only slightly subdued. But gradually the sadness so many felt turned to disillusionment and eventually to anger. For many of my generation it was more than a loss of innocence, it was the death of idealism.
Many of us were dissatisfied with the 'lone gunman' story and the reassurances that there was no wider plot. For years, we were caught up in conspiracy theories - shots fired from the 'grassy knoll', CIA operatives disguised as 'hobos', Cuban retribution for the Bay of Pigs, a Mafia hit and on and on... I used to joke that "Lady Bird Johnson did it", but I wasn't entirely kidding.
In my view, the decade that had begun with such optimism and bright promise had turned dark and uncertain. The Kennedy assassination set the stage for the tumultuous remainder of the 1960's, further fueled by the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Robert Kennedy and Malcolm X. Many believe the Vietnam War was the cause of the political upheavals, societal schisms, protests, counter-culture and insurrections that marked the remainder of the decade. I believe it would happened, in some form or another, regardless.
No comments:
Post a Comment